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Good end to BWPL Phase One with two wins out of remaining three games…

Our Men’s 1st team ended their Phase One BWPL Division Two campaign with two wins out of three to end the first half of the season on a high.

Going into the weekend the team had a slender chance of finishing in the top five and promotion but it would require three wins and then hope that either Scottish side Portobello or Caledonia slipping up in one of their two matches.

The weekend got of to the perfect start on Saturday lunchtime as we beat local rivals West London Penguins to leapfrog them in the table winning the game 11-9.

Edi hands out the instruction at start of game v WL Penguins-Nov 2018

We won the first quarter 3-2 after trailing 1-0 and then 2-1 before we leveled the match & took a 3-2 1st Qtr lead. Wayne Davis score our first and third goals with Nandi Cseh leveling the game at 2-2.

The second quarter saw the team extend their lead to two as they won the quarter 2-1 to take a half time lead at 5-3. Jack Warman & Cseh getting Watford’s goals.

Into the second half and the team extended the lead further with an early goal via David Koncz but Penguin mounted a fight back and closed the gap to one with a quick double for 6-5 but goals from Wayne Davis and Andy Holt either side of another Penguin strike closed the 3rd period 8-6 up.

The final period saw Penguin score first for 8-7 but goals from Jared Baker & Koncz gave us a 10-7 lead with 4.35 mins to play but Penguin weren’t giving up and inside 2.30 mins they were back within one at 10-9. The team then defeated manfully for the remaining mins and with only one second remaining on the clock Danny Davis scored for almost half way to win the match 11-9.

A great start to the weekend and with Portobello losing earlier in the day our next match against the Scottish side at 5.00pm would be critical.

A poor opening start against the Scots saw Watford trail 3-0 before a goal from Andy Holt with only 5 secs of the quarter remaining for 1-3 and then a goal from Dany Davis 90 secounds into the second period had Watford within one at 2-3 but a quick double had Portobello back in control at 2-5. Moments later a nice seven metre shot from Adam Page had Watford down by two at Half Time at 3-5.

Into the 3rd period that saw ten goals as Portobello extended their lead to 7-11 but not before Watford had closed the gap to one at 4-5 via Koncz with only 14 seconds of the quarter played however that was the closes we would get as the Scots scored four unanswered goals for 4-9. Goals from Jack Pickford & Holt gave their side hope as we cut the lead to three at 6-9 but a couple of defensive lapses allowed Portobello to restore their five goal lead at 6-11, with the third period nearly over a Cseh goal cut the lead to four at 7-11.

The final period was a dull affair as Portobello controlled the game and with only two goals scored one for either side the Scots took the victory at 8-12.

The defeat meant our slim chance of Championship One polo in the second half of the season was over. With one game still to play on Sunday morning only pride was at stake against City of Bristol.

Sunday lunchtime and with pride at stake Watford set about Bristol in a positive manor winning the opening quarter 3-2 thanks to goals via Jack Pickford and a double from Koncz.

The second period saw Watford maintain their lead and extended it two clear at 5-3 with efforts from Petar Djordjic and another from Koncz.

Watford 1st time-out team talk v Bristol-Nov 2018The third period saw Watford extend their lead further to three at 7-4 with another 2-1 quarter win goals via Page and Koncz to complete a hat-trick.

The final period and Watford extended their lead further to four at 8-4 after only 50 seconds play thanks to a strike from Jack Warman but then with victory in sight Watford took their foot of the gas and allowed Bristol back into the game with a three unanswered goals to close the gap to within one at 8-7. With 1.15 mins remaining Watford were hanging on but the team dug deep defensively and closed out the game.

A great end to the season but we now have it all to do if we want to bounce back and play Division two polo next season.

Head Coach Edi Brkovic commented after the Bristol match: ”The team played well this weekend and we got two good wins against sides we will play in Phase Two, we now have to work hard on our fitness before the season starts again in Mid-January and then we have to come out fighting and start the season on the front foot”.